Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1887-05-25
GOOD STORIES OF THE PRESENT
DAY.
The Sea Has Its Mysteries, and Some
of Them are Never Solved.

ofThem are Never Solved.
The sea is Of itself mystery, but the
mysteries of the sea are many and deep,
| and are added to each month. A
ships boat, from which the name has
carefully been obliterated, and which
holds the emaciated bodies of two men
who have starved to death, is picked
up in the Pacific to-day; to morrow a
Cunarder crossing the Atlantic reports
seeing sailing ship bottom up; next
day a derellct schooner sails herself
into some port In the Caribbean Sea,
and nothing can be learned OF the crew
who manned her. And it may be that
on the next some great steamer leaves
port on her voyage to Europe and is
never to be heard Of more. As an old
sailor. have had the luck to en-
counter some of these strange things,
and will relate the incidents without
| exaggeratiOn.
In the year 1861 was mate Of brig
called the Henry and William, sailing
between San Francisco and the Sand
wlch Islands. She was small, snug
vessel. fast sailer, and the Captain
was William Lansing. He and his
brother Henry were the owners, and
the brig was named after them. Just
at daylight one June morning, in the
year have mentioned, while we were
800 miles from the islands, a schooner
was sighted dead ahead. We had a
fair breeze over the starboard quarter,
and the schooner had all sail set, and
was making good progress. Sails were
not an unusual sight on that route, and
We gave the stranger little attention
until we found that we were overhaul.
ing her. She was exactly on the true
course to the islands, AMI we were
therefore in her wake. She was hull
down when we first discovered her,
but by the time we had washed down
and breakfast had been served she was
not over two miles ahead. There was
some smart schooners flying in that
trade, and the fact Of our outsailing
this one so Handsomely put Us all in
good spirits. We were humming along
after her at nine or ten knots an hour,
when she suddenly came up into the
wind in the most lubberly fashion,
shlvered there for moment and then
broached TO and was driven of before
the wind sideways, 1t was lucky for
ber that the breeze was no stronger.
for the schooner was light and tho
movement would have brought dlsas-
ter.
AS soon as / saw the schooner in
trouble 1 seized the glass and ran half
way up the fore-shrouds, and it wasn't
a minute before l made the discovery
that her decks were entirely clear Of
men. At this hour OF the morning
both watches should have been on
deck, but not q sailor was visible. This
was an qnheard of occurrence. but, as
she had no signal of distress flying,
and stood too high In the water to have
been abandoned for leaking vessel, /
could hardly credit my vision. /
looked again and again, examining |
every foot Of her docks. but it was a |
plain fact that not living person |
was in sight. 1 reported the matter to |
the Captain, and by that time We were |
so close aboard that all our crew could /
note the condition Of things with the |
naked eye. Our ships bell was rung,
and the men shouted in chorus, but |
nothing came OF it. 1t was then de- |
termined to board her, and, as the
brig was laid to, l went of with three
men in the Yawl and was soon at the
strangers side. I vas burning with
curiosity at the start, but the nearer
we approached the stranger the more
curiosity gave way TO eve and fcar.
There had been some terrible work
aboard Of her, OR she would not be in
that condition. Had a malignant fever
taken off the last OF the crew, or was it
mutiny and its ghastly consequences.
| had expected to meet with some
shocking sight, but was disappointed.
The decks were free and passably clear
or rattle. Some of the coils had fallen
of their Delaying pins, and could see
at a glance that the decks had not
been washed for several days, but aside
from this | could detect nothing out of
the way. The scuttle was drawn over
the forecastle entrance and b0lted. My
first action was TO open this, and the
rush of air told me that the forecastle
had not been ventilated for several
days. Seizing a capstan bar which
leaned against the anchor windlass,
pounded smartly on the deck and
called out to know If anybody was be-
low, but no answer came. The man
with me, who was an old salt, grew 80
nervous that he would have returned to
the boat but for my positive commands
to the contrary. As soon as satisfied
that the forecastle was clear Of men l
felt that the schooner was deserted and
we at once lowered away the sails.
This checked her drift, and the brig
turned on her heel, and came down
close to us again.
The next point for inspection was
the cabin. went down alone. and in
two or three minutes was satisfied that
it had no occupants, living or dead.
There was no disorder-no sign OF
haste or plunder. was shifting the
ar as ! moved about, and L could de-
tect no odor to prove that an epidemic
had ragged. When l went on deck the
brig was within speaking distance,
drifting at the same pace as the
schooner, and l informed Capt. Lansig
of the state of affairs and sent the boat
to bring him over. When he came we
descended INTO the foreeastle and ligh-
the lamp, Theie was plenty OF Oil In
IT: proving that some hand had turned
Y
out the light in the usual way. We
then went to the cabin. Everything
appeared as II the officers had simply
gone on deck, except that there was not
a single article of wearing apparel. This
was likewise true of the forecastle. We
looked for the schooner's log, but it
was gone. as also were her papers and
charts. We rummaged the cabin for
half an hour, but found nothing
whatever to enlighten us. Her
name ought to have been on
the stern, but when the boat was
ordered to pull around her no
name Of vessel or port was found. 1t
had not been scraped or painted out
recently, but as far as one could Judge
she had not carried name for years.
Then we made search along the
decks. She had no small boats at all.
Not even an initial letter was paintad